McDonalds Salads

Are these SB Phase I friendly? Their California Cob Salad with grilled chicken, not fried is really good. it has spinach and lettuce and egg crumbles, real bacon bits, blue cheese crumbles and then the chicken. I put the Newmans Own Balsamic on it (Sugars: 3g) and it was pretty good. Is this SB friendly?? Are any of the McD's salads?

Bacon isn't allowed, but 2 pieces of turkey bacon are allowed a day. Blue cheese would be allowed if it was low fat, but I don't think the mcdonald's one is. You might want to try subway salads when you are out and about, you can tell them exactly what to put in them.

How about the Wendy's taco salad? It is basically mixed greens with chili on top. They give you salsa, sour cream and tortilla chips seperately.

Some of the McSalads should be fine as not all of them have cheese/bacon on them, as long as you get the protein grilled & not fried. I've had their fiesta salad and thought it was OP (once you picked out the tortilla strips).

Bacon isn't allowed, but 2 pieces of turkey bacon are allowed a day. Blue cheese would be allowed if it was low fat, but I don't think the mcdonald's one is. You might want to try subway salads when you are out and about, you can tell them exactly what to put in them.

I don't get this. I mean, my regular bacon has less EVERYTHING -- fat, calories and 0 carbs... Why isn't it allowed? I used it in lieu of turkey bacon my first 2 weeks on Phase 1 and I dropped 12 lbs. I don't get why it isn't allowed.

I ate a little bacon during phase 1 and 2 of the south beach and didn't have any issues. My overall fat content was low, and for me, it made eating salads a little more palatable. I also ate full fat cheese, and have lost about 25 pounds total (i have about 30 total to lose).

The best thing about this diet is everyone is different. I eat very low-fat over-all so I found that a little bacon and full-fat cheese here and there are fine. So maybe it's not to the letter of the South Beach, but it's important to remember that everyone is different and if having a McDonalds salad, that you LIKE, ever so often keeps you OP, then I personally think there is no harm in that. I also really enjoy the McD's salads, and when you are in a hurry, it's an option I can live with. Everyone's different.

Remember, chicks, that the reason Dr. A designed this diet in the first place was for heart health and good blood chemistry, not weight loss. Real bacon has such a high saturated fat content that I would run away screaming! Turkey bacon is much better in the sat. fat issues, but still not perfect. I haven't tried Morningstar's veggie bacon yet...if it's good, that might be the best option yet.

As for the salad, bleu cheese is allowed...see many recipes in the SBD book and SBD cookbook for more info on that. You just want to use a small amount because it, too, is high in saturated fat.

So try the same salad, but ixnay on the bacon, okay?

The Fiesta meat has all sorts of odd ingredients, and several of them are either corn based, or have wheat in them, so it's not a great choice, and not a choice at all in phase 1.

I'd check the contents of Wendy's chili as well to make sure there is not wheat or corn additives.

Also check the chicken at McD's to see if sugar is added...some of them do.

Eating out at fast food places is hard! Can you get to a salad bar at a restaurant (Fresh Choice, Souplantation, Pizza Hut, Ruby Tuesday's) or at a grocery store and make your own salad? At a grocery store, you can get some meat in the deli and make your own cobb salad. Yum!

I think it depends on how often you eat something if it matters if it is a little off plan. I typically eat out once a weekend for lunch (or less) and I try to stay away from McDonalds. What would be perfect would be the side salad from Wendy's with the dressings from McDonalds. Note that Wendy's side salad does have carrots so I didn't eat it in Phase 1. I typically get a Wendy's side salad (with dressing from home since I don't like creamy ranch) and a small chili.

The small chili has 200 calories, 2 grams of saturated fat and no trans fats, 5 grams fiber, 5 grams sugar and 17 grams protein. It does have 870 mg of sodium which is one reason I try to have it only once a week or less.

Three of McDonalds dressings appear okay from having 3 grams of sugar or less: Newman's Own® Creamy Caesar Dressing and Newman's Own® Low Fat Balsamic Vinaigrette as well as Newman's Own® Salsa but the caesar dressing has 190 calories and 3.5 grams of saturated fat.